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Fostering community unity through education, advocacy for patients and plants, and efforts to eliminate stigma.
00;00;08;25 - 00;00;35;20
Unknown
Good afternoon, everyone. I am Molly the Corcoran. And you've reached conversations with Kersh today. I have a wonderful opportunity to sit down with two incredible professionals, that are local to us, Mr. Mark Waller and Miss Laura Hand. Mark is a CPA, co-founder and CEO of Mormon Waller with Betsy and Laura Hand is the founder and CEO of Laura Loo Experience Design.
00;00;35;20 - 00;00;47;27
Unknown
So thank you both for being here today. Thanks for having us. Yeah. I you in your businesses, separate from what we're going to talk about today, hour
00;00;47;27 - 00;00;49;15
Unknown
mark. Of course you do. Accounting
00;00;49;15 - 00;00;51;17
Unknown
Laura, you are in marketing.
00;00;51;17 - 00;01;04;01
Unknown
But today we've come together. And so you bring out this great experience, and we're going to talk about your your new endeavor with the, Cannabis Travel Association International.
00;01;04;03 - 00;01;40;22
Unknown
So how do those things blend together? How do they come together? Yeah. I mean, this is this is a hugely important topic for the cannabis industry. I think in general, having the ability to know about cannabis travel opportunities and, having consumers and both consumers and businesses know how to kind of meet each other in the middle is really important, not just for those businesses, but also to help destigmatize cannabis use in general.
00;01;40;24 - 00;02;06;01
Unknown
And so, I joined the board alongside Laura a couple of years ago. That organization, for background, was founded in 2018, in California. And so we've been working with, the founders of that organization, which continues to go on, Brian Applegarth, who's, who's, really an expert in the field in California, really passionate about cannabis travel.
00;02;06;03 - 00;02;29;07
Unknown
Is on our advisory board. But now that Minnesota is starting to become legal and we're starting to see more activity, or and I being based here in the middle, I'd start thinking, you know, okay, we need to bring this energy to Minnesota and to the Midwest, where California is, you know, ten years or so ahead of right needs to be able to tell people about these types of things here in Minnesota.
00;02;29;07 - 00;02;55;00
Unknown
So I feel like this is a great opportunity to do that. Yeah. Agreed. What what kinds of businesses get involved with the, the association? Laura. Yeah. Well, a lot of times people hear the name of the organization as a nonprofit and think that we are the ones organizing the travel. And so what we really do is we exist to have businesses be our members.
00;02;55;03 - 00;03;19;13
Unknown
And those members range from being a wedding, cannabis wedding, tour operator, or a tour operator that takes people to cultivation sites and takes them around different dispensaries. We have the technology side is trying to organize, bring it together, such as events, all the way to travel. Agents are taking people around the world, cannabis Wellness resorts. And so, keep on seeing you.
00;03;19;15 - 00;03;37;08
Unknown
Consumption lounges. And I think part of the fun for letting us be part of this, that we get new people approaching us all the time and we're going to come back. I never even thought about that as a concept or cannabis travel tourism. And so we get to learn along the way and be that kind of sponge and learn.
00;03;37;11 - 00;04;04;06
Unknown
So it's evolving all the time. So it is an international organization. Where are you finding most of the places are located? Well, I California is still because it was the image by the California Cannabis Travel Association. And there were several years of that being its space. That's still a good portion of the members. And then we just had more people around the world reaching out, saying, what about us can rejoin?
00;04;04;06 - 00;04;25;18
Unknown
And so that's why we decided to evolve it to an international stage. Okay. So it's it's definitely growing. And I can see that feeding out from California to the Midwest, East Coast and beyond. Okay. Where are some of the international places? And like, how does that factor into, like, you know, legality and whatnot? I can speak on the Thailand.
00;04;25;21 - 00;04;55;07
Unknown
Yeah. So, the beach some way is a resort in Thailand. And so they were one of our first, and national members. And then I of course, I talk about Coral Cove in Jamaica as well. But the one in Thailand I could speak to is, you know, they're a luxury cannabis wellness resort, and they're very discreet in regards to how they, market themselves.
00;04;55;07 - 00;05;17;22
Unknown
And so it's all around holistic plant while business. And they've got a dispensary on site and they have it was there that can work with you and, and I just personally went a couple months ago. So it was just a fantastic experience of being able to sit down the herbalist at check in and go through a whole checklist of what have I tried, where am I excited to try and what do I need some guidance on?
00;05;17;25 - 00;05;35;27
Unknown
And as well as my partner who had never done any of that. So it was great to feel that we were safe. We knew exactly what the rules around canvas was in that country. Right. I think that's usually the largest hurdle that I hear from people when they're traveling is where do I get it? How can I see the consumer?
00;05;36;03 - 00;05;56;10
Unknown
How do I know the laws? And how can I just do it in a safe space that I can be present and fully enjoy it without being afraid of something happen? Yeah. I'm so glad to see these things popping up. And like this association shaping up so that people know where they can go to consume if they want to.
00;05;56;11 - 00;06;21;25
Unknown
Like, the biggest question that I get from people is, hey, how can I smuggle my drugs into Mexico? You know, and I think about those things too, like, how am I going to consume my medicine while I'm gone, you know, on vacation? So it's reassuring to hear of these things that are popping up. I think there's also a really great opportunity, for showcasing what the the country might have available.
00;06;21;25 - 00;06;50;19
Unknown
So whatever their local, plant medicine might be to offer that experience to people. So not just trying or traveling just for the plant. I mean, they're. Yeah. Trying to figure out more or or take more in the local culture and learn about the agriculture and the historic significance of the plants and other plant medicines. And so being able to do that is a big reason traveling to different countries as well as different regions within United States.
00;06;50;21 - 00;07;24;02
Unknown
Yeah. We were go ahead. Mark. Yeah. And I think part of that is what we have found as an organization is, tourists will spend more money if they are able to consume cannabis at locations they're at. So from a business standpoint, hotels and places that are accepting of cannabis use should be happy and excited about bringing those types of tourists in as long as they're set up and obviously educated in how to support those types of members.
00;07;24;02 - 00;07;47;13
Unknown
But a lot of studies have shown that that those types of opportunities bring economic drivers to the places that are promoting those tourist opportunities. With, amongst the association, then is there like a type of a vetting process to make sure that there are those kinds of, like safeguards for people in place, or is that kind of up to each individual business or.
00;07;47;15 - 00;08;21;08
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, I think for our members, you know, we obviously need to know that they are going to be able to support good cannabis travel practices and things like that. But, I think for us, providing them the, the, the resources to be able to kind of get together and speak with one another. We we've had in 2024, we've had regular networking meetings with awesome that are are in that space that are interested in cannabis travel, both from a business side and kind of, from a plant that is inside.
00;08;21;10 - 00;08;45;10
Unknown
So just kind of bringing those folks together, it seems to be the best way to do that. Yeah. We also have the good number guidelines. Okay, great. It's not a curriculum, but yeah, it's just having them because we're a community. You know, we are an association that exists. We exist to bring everybody together. Yeah. Further, the conversation on cannabis travel and tourism.
00;08;45;12 - 00;09;10;06
Unknown
And so together we need to have good quality standards because we are being looked at through a very small. Exactly. And so what we do impacts the entire community. And so those good member guidelines are just things like you can have a safe environment, take care of your patrons and so on. And then we've got some other great resources like our advocacy toolkit and our data reports.
00;09;10;08 - 00;09;29;05
Unknown
I think the data reports just show the amount of money that people are spending, what types of experiences they enjoy partaking in, and so that when you are building a business, it's really important to know your consumer for sure are really looking for, so that you can come up with the minimum viable product of serving those people in your area.
00;09;29;07 - 00;09;57;02
Unknown
So there's that component of the market research already built into this repository essentially. So yeah, I love it. It's awesome. What are some of the key challenges that you see from like the global standpoint or even here locally, nationwide? I mean, I think locally it's it's still just informing people about opportunities and getting people to know that there are these opportunities.
00;09;57;02 - 00;10;23;15
Unknown
I think what we're seeing and, you know, Laura and I were at Earl Giles last night already, you know, in our conversations are finding people that are offering types of cannabis opportunities, you know, travel, you know, I guess, like shuttles to certain spaces, for example, right. The type of thing that would happen. And so, just getting kind of that network together is really important.
00;10;23;15 - 00;10;46;02
Unknown
And so having opportunities to get together, whether they're on zoom or whether they're in-person events and just kind of letting people meet each other, I think that's the beauty of it, especially here in Minnesota. We have a great community, and when people come together, it's really magical. So yeah, we just want to bring that opportunity to the community.
00;10;46;09 - 00;11;16;06
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. And with federally, it being legal, it's hard to do anything with search engines, right? Yeah. As I'm sure everybody has. Yeah. We all feel the pains of. Right. How else are we supposed to let people know that, you know, exist? And so those in-person networking events are just so crucial because, as I was telling you earlier, you know, we are approached by individuals like I'm building the very first of this or the very first of this.
00;11;16;06 - 00;11;41;15
Unknown
And it's like, well, you you think you are because you think, right? And there are others that are building a similar concept. And if you can work together and learn from each other best practices and share your your network networking knowledge, it's just going to help this entire community. Yeah, I would think some of the one of the challenges would be just to like the legality issues in every different spot, right?
00;11;41;15 - 00;12;05;17
Unknown
Like what can you consume, how much, how much can you have on your person? You know, things of that nature, like what they can sell if they're, you know, selling products to consume right on site there. So, yeah, it seems like it would be something that would have to be overcome, but yeah. And and again, it it's been interesting because our, our and it shifts so often.
00;12;05;19 - 00;12;49;07
Unknown
Right. What you can consume and where. And so we really rely on having I have passionate ambassadors of different members that are the ones that know that area. Sure. Throughout networking educating each other because it's just it's just changing so often. It's really. Yeah. I mean, to try to stay on top of that. Yeah, yeah. And because it is such a rapidly evolving space, what do you think are some of, like the misconceptions or barriers that people face when it comes to, traveling with cannabis or, or knowing that they're going to be able to get a product that is enjoyable to consume when they get there, you know, that.
00;12;49;09 - 00;13;09;01
Unknown
I think that's really challenging because, you know, if you're if you say, you know, take your cannabis on an airplane, that's really pretty risky to do, right. You know, as a CPA, I would I can't even imagine ever, ever doing that because that, you know, you can risk all kinds of things, even if even if the penalty is small or big, you know, it's it's very risky.
00;13;09;01 - 00;13;31;05
Unknown
So, being able to, you know, give folks guidelines on what to do, where to go. I mean, there's a lot of work to be done there, obviously. Sure. There's still it's still very much feels like the Wild West about, you know, how to go to a dispensary and find the products you want. And, you know, when you have.
00;13;31;12 - 00;13;53;06
Unknown
Yeah. Just take an example of good things that are happening so that so is a good example of, you know, they are a good thing. They call themselves like a sleepy town. And so they target the locals in, you know, a 2 hour or 3 hour driving distance. And they've got a great app so that people can go that off and kind of choose your own adventure.
00;13;53;08 - 00;14;12;25
Unknown
And so they know when they're going to their that city where they can go to find out what the laws are in consumption, what friendly places are just to be able to consume, whether that is hotels, parks and so on. Yeah. Nice. I think that's a huge opportunity for destinations to be able to have that type of a resource.
00;14;12;25 - 00;14;39;29
Unknown
Yeah, because if you are looking at two different locales and you are wanting to consume, naturally and choose the one that it's very forward to, give me all the information and allow for easy access, right. Does the association serve mostly like the businesses then, or do they also like, is it, you know, like a travel thing where you just a traveler can access and be like, oh, hey, you know, there's this great app, I'm going to go to Modesto.
00;14;39;29 - 00;15;02;28
Unknown
So I'm going to use this or yeah, I would love to have an app someday. Okay. Yeah, it would be a huge, huge lift. I think, at this point, we're still primarily, serving the businesses, I think. But but with this mission in mind that, you know, there's really a lot that can be done for sure, like, we've done California.
00;15;03;01 - 00;15;28;25
Unknown
And now, you know, there's still a lot to be done there. And we, you know, we're just starting starting the process and in the Midwest. And a big need is being able to find a resource of all these different locations. So with our website, we're helping to build out a directory for businesses which are. Even having that as a resource could be a natural thing for consumers to be able to find and use, which can help the businesses.
00;15;28;27 - 00;16;01;21
Unknown
Awesome. So what are some of like the exciting trends or destinations that you're seeing come up? Then? I mean, for me, I, I think about this locally here in Minneapolis actually is is, you know, obviously we're we're still working on the the full adult use, dispensaries, but just the opportunity to go to a venue and, and buy a THC beverage and go to a concert and watch a concert with THC beverage instead of a beer like that.
00;16;01;21 - 00;16;24;08
Unknown
Just those little things are, to me, really eye opening. I got to do that for the first time last year. And it was. It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to, the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis. Awesome. I to me, I, I want to be able to think about how do we bring and inform folks about about those types of opportunities first and then educate them about where to go to find them?
00;16;24;13 - 00;16;51;01
Unknown
Sure. Hopefully we'll see a push. Kind of, you know, it's gone away over the last, I don't know, decade or so, you know, smoking areas. But hopefully we'll start to see those coming back around and people really being intentional about having a place where people can go and smoke or consume their medicine if they want to. Something I'd definitely like to see for sure as hotels are built up.
00;16;51;04 - 00;17;17;12
Unknown
Let's just education around the staff and that concierge so that hotel guests are able to talk to somebody and kind of figure out where they can consume, or to have, different ventilation systems around the room to be able to properly ventilate. There's just a big opportunity to do a discreet way. Yeah. Being were locked into this like, yeah, walk down the road.
00;17;17;14 - 00;17;50;16
Unknown
To be able to do that. Yeah. The more we can get images or, you know, even ideas of people of it being normal, you know, I think the better off will be from my standpoint anyway. So the association helps travelers somewhat. Businesses. How can we help? How can the association help, like, policymakers understand the importance of, safe and responsible cannabis while traveling?
00;17;50;19 - 00;18;16;10
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, one of the things that we've we've been, well, we've developed and are continuing to develop are those kind of educational materials that talk about, what is cannabis travel? Where, where can you go to consume? And so I think all of that is is part and parcel to being able to provide, opportunities for, for folks who we're talking to their legislators about, cannabis consumption.
00;18;16;10 - 00;18;38;24
Unknown
So I'm thinking just locally here in Minnesota, obviously we have, cannabis consumption hasn't really been defined, right. Talked about, or defined exactly what that is or how that is to be. And so I feel like, organizations like ours have a, an opportunity to be at the table there to talk about what has worked in other locations.
00;18;38;24 - 00;19;10;11
Unknown
We can bring that network together, from, you know, what's happening in California to, you know, you know, like LA was saying internationally, how did those opportunities work? And maybe we can, you know, provide solid examples of how that could work here. Sure. Examples. We have everything. Okay. So that is a downloadable resource for everybody. That comes with templates and different or templates of emails and like awesome.
00;19;10;13 - 00;19;34;14
Unknown
Unlike a lot of other organizations or associations and, and groups like the cannabis has to build community. Yeah, they have to build that dialog with all those different community groups, parent groups, school boards, community foundations, the police force. And so the tool could just go through who are some of those main groups that you should be reaching out to to start that conversation?
00;19;34;16 - 00;19;55;00
Unknown
And then some of the conversation topics, what the answers are. So a very common question is what about overconsumption and DUI if you go on the road? Yeah, it's your access to children and things like that. So it's good for people to know that those questions are going to be newly asked. So come with the answer. Exactly.
00;19;55;02 - 00;20;18;03
Unknown
Yeah. It's hard enough to like come out if you're, you know, in a specific community. I'm thinking of maybe even like a smaller community and say, hey, I use cannabis. It's hard enough to do that. But then to have to like, get people to rally around you and face law enforcement or, you know, legislators like you need support around you.
00;20;18;03 - 00;20;38;04
Unknown
So that's nice. That's really awesome. I like I love that, and especially I, you know, I grew up in a, in a small town in Minnesota. So that's like a perfect example. You know, we're in the Twin Cities right now. The conversation about cannabis has been a little bit more advanced than when you drive to greater Minnesota.
00;20;38;06 - 00;21;03;17
Unknown
Definitely. It's a little bit more behind there. And, you know, you certainly are going to face different, different challenges, different, you know, prejudices, I'll say. Yeah, in those locations. So as much as we can put, professional, you know, safe face on, consumption, I think it's it's all about it, I love it. Thank you. I support that work 100%.
00;21;03;20 - 00;21;31;00
Unknown
How did you guys meet? Like, what's your origin story? Let's get back to, like, the heart of it. Yeah. I you know, it back in in 2020, I was looking at a career change as everyone was, and in the midst of that, you know, one of the things that blew my mind was, dispensaries were deemed a, an essential business, during Covid.
00;21;31;00 - 00;21;55;28
Unknown
And so, that got me thinking about, starting my accounting firm, and, and really focusing on cannabis, knowing that there's a huge need for cannabis accounting services. My business partner, Betsy Bora, who's a friend of mine for, for several years, I started talking to her about what should I do? And we started talking and eventually realized, hey, we should work together.
00;21;55;28 - 00;22;23;17
Unknown
So, we started the firm in 2021. And, actually, during Covid, Laura and I met, on clubhouse, back in 2020 during during Covid, there were all these, you know, clubhouse meetings where nobody could get together at all. Yeah, around cannabis. And so I think that's where we first, ran into each other very first time, I have to say, the ground kitchens conversation.
00;22;23;19 - 00;22;53;24
Unknown
Yeah. Me too old age that I was, you know, the jump on the Minnesota clubhouse and be able to meet some of these people. Great. Yeah. How do you get cannabis to come to Iowa? How does that happen, Laura? How can we make it happen? Well, you know, we we try to do a, just an informational meeting a couple of years ago and so that we could start the conversation.
00;22;53;24 - 00;23;25;17
Unknown
And I thought we'd have hundreds of people, show up, maybe 15. And the message was, I was afraid that my license plate is going to, we're going to be waiting. Sure. So the stigma is still there, and, and that we started increasing what we had opposed and, and the beverages and then, some of our regulations were scaled back recently, so we can only have, 12oz of beverage with for milligrams.
00;23;25;17 - 00;23;54;23
Unknown
And that's pretty much, okay. In the hemp market. Okay. Is there a lot of, product availability? There are people really crafting a lot or not so much prior to this. Okay. We do have medical, market, but it's a I think there's maybe three dispensaries they can choose from, but they have maybe 20. It's very limited.
00;23;54;23 - 00;24;20;05
Unknown
And it's been an interesting process. My mother really did. And so having founded and that was two years ago, so going through that whole process of getting her medical card is not easy. And then once she has that card and being a caregiver, she has to go travel two hours to a dispensary. And she has to pay an extra fee to be a caregiver for me to be able to go do that for her.
00;24;20;07 - 00;24;42;20
Unknown
So it's just been a very arduous process. Sure. Especially it just from the medical perspective of how does it interact with her other medications. What should she be using? I'm glad I have such more knowledge than I did before to be able to help her. Yeah, I can imagine. Just for the typical person or patient that's trying to access that.
00;24;42;23 - 00;25;07;25
Unknown
Right. Do her providers know much about cannabis? Or once you started kind of inquiring about it, did they kind of get on board and get educated about it? So frustrating thing. Yeah. And that's kind of my origin story was, I lost my brother to a heart attack when he was 25. Opioid addiction and then two years later, my died of brain cancer.
00;25;07;27 - 00;25;25;21
Unknown
And this is, you know, ten years ago to me, so during that process was when I started asking questions of, like, I heard all these great stories about, can I do something with pain reduction or at least, you know, maybe curing cancer? That was always met with, we just can't we just can't recommend that. We can't condone that.
00;25;25;21 - 00;25;52;01
Unknown
We don't know where to start. So, that's why I didn't do it. I just help other families have different outcomes. Yeah, obviously that's not come that to the current situation. Yeah, we'll get there. Otherwise there's other states. How have you seen it help your mom? So she suffers from muscle spasms, as so would find if she is using, like, patches.
00;25;52;05 - 00;26;10;19
Unknown
Okay. Yep. Reduction. Awesome. Otherwise, it's flat on her body and but yes, it does. Yeah. The biggest hurdle is, if we do find something, it is expensive to,
00;26;10;21 - 00;26;37;18
Unknown
Well, hopefully the, the opening up of people's minds and hearts to cannabis will happen sooner rather than later, because you can see from, even from a personal experience how much it's impacted your family and and band benefit. So thank you for sharing that. I appreciate that. How did you come to cannabis? You know, really you know, I was late to the game honestly in my life.
00;26;37;20 - 00;27;03;26
Unknown
But again, going back to Covid, everybody being kind of shut down, really was a period where I, I kind of reassessed my, my career thoughts and my, my life thoughts. You know, my wife Bridget, and I, we have two, two young kids when Covid hit, we're in kindergarten and preschool. And it was again, it was very dire time for for parents with young children.
00;27;03;26 - 00;27;32;12
Unknown
Yes. Losing those connections is really, really, really hard. Yes. And so, you know, kind of in hand with, you know, looking at how the, the, the, the cannabis industry is deemed an essential service really kind of opened my mind. In the meantime, I was realizing, like many other people, during Covid that, you know, okay, I'm, I'm making myself more drinks at home than I ever have before.
00;27;32;15 - 00;27;57;24
Unknown
You know, and at first it was like, okay, this is kind of fun. And then, you know, after a while it's like, oh, this is actually, this is really messing with me quite a bit. Yeah. And so, you know, gradually I kind of started to, to try more cannabis products. And, you know, fast forward to today where, you know, I, I'm not I haven't, you know, cut alcohol out completely, but I'll same I'll have a beer here and there.
00;27;57;25 - 00;28;22;04
Unknown
Yeah. The point where it was during Covid, and in to counter that, you know, I found especially for me, kind of microdosing, you know, the type of products at night has been really, really good for my sleep and for just my overall mental health. And, you know, I'm not I'm definitely, you know, I still have children at home.
00;28;22;06 - 00;28;43;15
Unknown
They're now 11 and nine. And so I don't smoke at home. And it's just it's not really workable for me. Yeah. But, you know, the edible products and beverages have been been really wonderful, wonderful for me. And so, know, I'm just really excited to to see that develop and, and so and so, you know, meet with folks that are, you know, passionate about products.
00;28;43;15 - 00;29;06;08
Unknown
I, you know, I'm, I'm a huge, like, coffee nerd. Same. So, so I feel like there's a lot of parallels there between coffee and cannabis. Yeah. Finding good products and things that work for you and things that taste good. There's a lot of overlap there. I'm actually really proud of our market. I feel like we have a lot of good products on the market, especially in the hemp drive space.
00;29;06;11 - 00;29;32;18
Unknown
I mean, I'm excited to see when a track opens up. What what else will come about? But I think we do such a great job here. And it's, you know, I hope that, you know, comes to fruition in Iowa. I know in Wisconsin, their limits are, like, so high. So, I mean, you can definitely get a lot of variety of products there, but like, the limits are usually pretty high.
00;29;32;18 - 00;30;05;06
Unknown
So, well, thank you for sharing your personal story to do you feel like it makes you did it help you be a better parent? And I mean, I'm like, just like a week ago, I had a cannabis beverage. Not crazy amount, but, along with, you know, reading my kids that same story. Yeah. Like those little moments where it's like, I feel like I'm at their level, where, like, if you're doing a job all day long, you feel like you're maybe at this, like, very adult, serious mode all the time.
00;30;05;06 - 00;30;36;00
Unknown
But, like, it's definitely helped me connect with, kind of that silly, sweet self that is so important to have. Yeah. Young kids for sure. For sure. Yeah. Pretty soon you'll have to be thinking about those conversations that you'll have with them about cannabis. So yeah, awesome. What are you most excited for? What types of businesses are you most excited to see kind of coming forward with this new travel association?
00;30;36;02 - 00;30;55;09
Unknown
I mean, I think locally and and so I'm just excited to see shops open in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. You know, like I mentioned, we have a great, you know, coffee shop type of vibe already. Like, I can already tell that folks that are looking to open stores here are going to have a similar type of type of things.
00;30;55;09 - 00;31;20;25
Unknown
So yeah, having that kind of pleasant retail experience and community and education, I think I'm super excited about it. And then greater Minnesota travel opportunities. I know there's so many opportunities like that in the summer, when Minnesota weather is beautiful, right? I'm just excited to see see what types of opportunities there are out there, for outdoor types of cannabis events.
00;31;20;27 - 00;31;49;25
Unknown
Yeah. You know, all of that is you get to re-experience it. So whether it's an art museum, food going out in nature like those different cultivars, or just change and enhance any of those existing scenarios. So yeah, for locals, I've never tried it. Or now with just, people traveling in, it's just a different opportunity to experience something that they may or done.
00;31;49;25 - 00;32;12;03
Unknown
But with, with cannabis. Yeah. And we were talking a little bit earlier before we got the show started, about how just curating a really safe place for people to do that consumption and know, like, you know, I, I'm in a place where they're being mindful about, you know, what they have to offer. And, you know, I'm surrounded probably by people that I love.
00;32;12;03 - 00;32;41;26
Unknown
I'm on vacation with. Hopefully you love them, you know, so, like, creates this, you know, space where you can, feel free to, to try things if you're, if you've been away from it before, if you've never tried it before. So as a, as a mom like ideal decision to you. It's. There's just so much you have to plan ahead about every little detail.
00;32;41;28 - 00;33;02;08
Unknown
And so if you were looking for a, you know a replacement for alcohol or something, I could just help you be more present with you have children. It's just so nice to know that you can go to a place and is, whatever you're needing. Discreet, available. There's safe access education around that. Like, I don't have that over research.
00;33;02;14 - 00;33;28;15
Unknown
Yeah. Another thing. Yeah. Well, and, you know, speaking to being pregnant with your children, even just being present on your vacation, you know, like, get into the moment and, like, turn the work off for a while, like, this is why we're here. You know, I'd really love to see, like, maybe little cabins or something like that, you know, or it's cannabis friendly or, you know, they have like a group thing that they do every night sitting around the campfire.
00;33;28;15 - 00;33;50;07
Unknown
I don't know what it could be, but yeah, try to that. Okay. Adult cannabis. Okay. I do all the things in of your child. Yeah. Awesome. Let's talk about some of the other businesses that have been really intriguing to you. I know we've talked a little bit about that one. Thank you. And the one in Thailand, how about some other ones?
00;33;50;07 - 00;34;16;19
Unknown
Have you visited some places, Mark? I you know, just in traveling with, you know, the travel association, we we had a retreats in 2023 and Palm Springs and they have an amazing, just benefit dispensary and consumption lounge scene really in the city. So, we got to go to, I think, it's called for 20.
00;34;16;21 - 00;34;45;03
Unknown
Thank you. Yeah. I'm like, you know. Yeah, but those types of, venues where consumption is allowed and, they have, you know, musicians playing music, it's it's a pretty chill vibe. So it's not, you know, super crazy, not super noisy, but. Yeah, really relaxed kind of location like those sort of the types of things I think really bode well for the industry as a whole and are really positive experiences.
00;34;45;05 - 00;35;14;21
Unknown
Yeah. It's a such a different experience when people are out in there consuming cannabis versus when they're out and they're consuming alcohol. Cans when you leave. Yeah, okay. Talk more about that. So I think for Rachel Gordon, just. Yeah. At Molly's. In this wedding, I've not yet personally experienced that. From what I heard. It's just a great way to create the, the feelings of the evening.
00;35;14;28 - 00;35;36;09
Unknown
Share the cannabis where you have this like inclined to crazy often happens it's being able to kind of set the the other flow of, of what you want to use, whether it's in your appetizers and you start introducing more THC and each guest, of course, in their event talk to you to find out. Do they like. Yeah.
00;35;36;10 - 00;35;57;06
Unknown
How much do they want to consume? When do they want to consume. And so really paying attention to the needs of each of your guests, of course children, you know, whatever whoever is attending, and being able to put more in the meal and then, at the end of the they just eat it, you know. Yeah, it your desserts like your cakes.
00;35;57;09 - 00;36;22;06
Unknown
But people can kind of take as much as they want. So it's just kind of a, it is more chill for my heart. Of course. Yeah. It just loves it. Again. It may be present and enjoying. Kind of beautiful moment that you're trying to curate. Yeah. And again, speaking to the the differences between alcohol and and cannabis I mean cannabis is medicine.
00;36;22;06 - 00;36;50;12
Unknown
So it's such a more intentional experience, you know, you know, sit down to like an old fashioned and be like, I'm going to intend on being more patient. You know, like, I think, you know, cannabis can be more of a spiritual or a, mood regulator than, than alcohol can be. So, yeah. Awesome. Tell us where we can find you guys.
00;36;50;14 - 00;37;16;12
Unknown
You can find, more and more ads on Instagram at Morgan CPA. I'm on LinkedIn. Just search Mark our. Well, our CPA, and, we have a we have our own YouTube channel. We do our, our, we do monthly webinars and then for Cannabis Travel Association, why don't you take that one more travel association.
00;37;16;14 - 00;37;46;24
Unknown
It's travel association.org. And then we are on Instagram, Facebook, some boutique talking cannabis travel association. And how about Laura Lou? So Lauren, the experience design. And I'm a fractional CMO in the space. I help with marketing and customer journey mapping to build ideal customer experiences. And you can find me on LinkedIn and my website is customer Delight process.com and all the channels for the experience, design.
00;37;46;26 - 00;38;09;23
Unknown
And it's not specific to cannabis, but you do work with those types of brands. Correct? Gotcha. Okay. Awesome. Any final thoughts guys that you want people to know about the association or I think, you know, we're we have a lot of volunteers. Every time we talk to folks about that, organization, we get a lot of people very interested in it.
00;38;09;23 - 00;38;29;20
Unknown
And so we have a great team of volunteers that have reached out with us and worked with us in 2024. We're always looking for more people. So if you're interested in helping out in any way, check out the the website. And, and we'll certainly be active in 2025. And yeah, I want to volunteer to like go check out the spaces.
00;38;29;22 - 00;38;53;07
Unknown
Exactly. And you know, you know, we're kind of ahead of our time. And so we get to do a lot of inspiration and one on one around it. And so for 2025 we're going to lower our membership costs. So awesome for the entire year for anybody. And and what we're trying to shift is kind of what can we do for you and what can we do together.
00;38;53;09 - 00;39;15;19
Unknown
So by lowering that barrier of entry, people can be forgotten that directory have access to all those great toolkits, some of our networking events, and hopefully we'll start doing some in-person events. I think we're trying to plan something here in Minnesota that can build out, and have people come in and learn about the advocacy toolkit. Right. How do you put this safe event?
00;39;15;22 - 00;39;38;15
Unknown
How do you do infused dining experiences? How should you build your consumption lounge? So it is a tourist destination. It's where we're going to try to do some education around that. That's awesome. I love that support for business. For people thinking about, you know, getting a license and maybe doing, you know, a consumption lounge because I feel like we're really going to need those places.
00;39;38;18 - 00;40;02;10
Unknown
And I feel like that's one area where, like, they just don't maybe have a lot of support. So what do you think of something there's like the business aspect and then there's like hospitality. And when you're in hospitality you just you just understand that there's so much more that goes into it. All right. And as hopefully the market doesn't become saturated but experiences may be key.
00;40;02;13 - 00;40;24;21
Unknown
Yeah. Price location is going to be the experience that you provide. And so being able to understand the hospitality mindset in whether you're building a dispensary or consumption lounge or event space like that is going to be key to being able to draw in both locals as well as tourists. Okay, awesome. Thanks guys. So you heard it first.
00;40;24;21 - 00;40;58;09
Unknown
If you are a business thinking about, getting into the cannabis travel space, please check out the association's website. And if you need marketing help or CPA help, please can check out Laura and Mark. So thanks you guys, for being here. Yeah, exactly. You're probably so swamped. Yeah. All right. That's it for conversations with Kush. Make sure you like, share, comment and subscribe on all platforms, including YouTube and audio platforms.
00;40;58;09 - 00;41;02;06
Unknown
So have a great day. Peace. Thanks.
00;41;02;06 - 00;41;11;12
Unknown
You.